An improving David Clarkson left his mark for a coast-to-coast national television audience to see on Saturday night, both on the scoreboard and on Mikhail Grabovski’s bloodied face.

For all those worry-warts out there who were fretting en masse when Clarkson failed to hit the back of the net during his first 10 outings as a Maple Leaf, a collective sigh of relief should be coming out of their mouths now that the Mimico native is scoring, hitting and irking other teams with his in-your-face style of play.

“I’m feeling a lot more comfortable,” Clarkson said after his second goal in the past three games helped the Leafs to a 2-1 shootout victory over Grabovski’s Washington Capitals. “And if I’m getting under the skin of my opponents, that means I’m doing my job.”

Clarkson didn’t just get under Grabovski’s skin; he accidentally sliced it open.

After putting the Leafs up 1-0 on a nifty deflection of a Jake Gardiner wrist shot midway through the second period, his skate inadvertently cut a falling Grabovski in the cheek just before the intermission, leaving the former Leaf lying motionless on the ice for about 20 seconds. When he finally got up and quickly skated off the ice, the Caps centre was loudly booed.

After his gash was sealed with 20 stitches, he returned to the Caps lineup in the third period.

“It was so unintentional,” Clarkson said. “I was skating the other way and didn’t even know he was there.

“I actually skated back and made sure he was OK.”

Like it or not, Grabovski and Clarkson will always be linked together, albeit not in such a painful way.

On this night, Clarkson scored a goal, hit two goal posts and was cheered.

On this same evening, Grabovski was cut open for 20 stitches and was jeered.

It’s safe to say the torch has been passed, isn’t it?

When the Leafs bought out Grabovski this past summer, the motivation behind the move was to clear cap space to re-sign the likes of Nazem Kadri and Tyler Bozak and to go after Clarkson, the No. 1 free agent target on Dave Nonis’ radar.

Most of those sitting in the ACC stands on Saturday would claim that was a shrewd move.

“Even in those 10 games where I didn’t score, I felt like the chances were coming,” Clarkson said. “I just kept telling myself that sooner or later pucks would start going in.”

They certainly are now.

The Clarkson-Grabovski storyline aside, this was The James Reimer Show. For the first 55 minutes 50 seconds of play, Reimer was outstanding, stopping 43 Capitals shots — many of the point-blank variety.

But with less than five minutes remaining in regulation, Mike Green flipped the puck from the neutral zone into the Leaf end, where a streaking Alex Ovechkin beat Dion Phaneuf to it and blasted a shot past Reimer to tie the game 1-1. It was Ovechkin’s 26th goal in 31 career games against Toronto.

Joffrey Lupul then scored the winner in the shootout, although the real star was Reimer, who was making his fifth straight Saturday night start for the Leafs. The Toronto goalie faced a season-high 50 shots and was magnificent.

“There’s no better place to play than Toronto,” a jubilant Reimer said afterward. “This is where hockey lives.”

It’s where Grabovski lived, too, for five years of his hockey career. But when the Leafs bought out his deal in July — one which still had four years remaining at a $5.5-million cap hit per season — he tore into Leafs coach Randy Carlyle in an interview with tsn.ca.

“I don’t feel any support from this (expletive) idiot,” Grabovski said at the time.

After the morning skate Saturday, a TV-type pointed out to Carlyle that those words uttered at him by the former Leaf were, well, unflattering.

“No (bleep)!” was Carlyle’s reply.

Short. Succinct. To the point.

To no one’s surprise, the Toronto organization did not have a video welcoming Grabovski back to town like they often do for returning ex-Leafs. One suspects Carlyle would have gone apoplectic had such a bit been shown on the centre ice video screen, although it’s a pretty safe bet that the coach would have put the kibosh on such an effort.

As for Clarkson, there will be plenty more highlight reel moments in his future if he keeps this up.

When the Maple Leafs bought out Grabovski this past summer, the motivation behind the move was to clear cap space to re-sign the likes of Nazem Kadri and Tyler Bozak and to go after Clarkson, the No. 1 free agent target on Dave Nonis’s radar.

On Saturday night, Grabovski returned to the Air Canada Centre for the first time since signing with the Washington Capitals. And, in the end, it certainly played out better for Clarkson than it did for the Capitals’ No. 84 and his teammates.

With Clarkson scoring in the second period and goalie James Reimer standing on his head, the Leafs posted a 2-1 shootout victory over the visitors, much to the glee of the capacity crowd at the ACC.